April & Mae and the Animal Shelter: The Thursday Book

by Megan Dowd Lambert, Briana Dengoue (Illustrator)

Overview

Fans of King & Kayla and Charlie & Mouse will love this delightful early reader series that celebrates friendship every day of the week—now in paperback!

It's Thursday, and April and Mae want to help the new animal shelter. Mae is good at helping with her hands, and April is better at helping with her words. While Mae plans a lemonade stand to raise money for cat food, April writes a letter to the newspaper encouraging pet adoption but wonders whether that will make a difference. Mae helps her to see that even little actions can contribute to change bit by bit!

With imagination and humor, Every Day with April & Mae brings all there is to know and love about friendship to life in a way kids can both relate to and learn from making this a perfect fit for young readers ready to step up from picture books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623544140
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Series:	Every Day with April & Mae
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.19(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Megan Dowd Lambert is the author of A Kid of Their Own, A Crow of His Own, Real Sisters Pretend, and Reading Picture Books with Children. Her experiences as a white mother of seven children in a blended, multiracial, queer, adoptive family inform her work as an author, reviewer, and educator. A former children's literature instructor at Simmons University, Megan reviews and writes for Kirkus and Horn Book; is a consultant with EmbraceRace, a community focused on race and kids; and serves on the curation team of Our Shelves, a subscription box service that features racially diverse, LGBTQ+, and feminist characters and families.

Briana Dengoue is a Philadelphia-born-and-based illustrator and graphic designer. She holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and is a firm believer in the fact that representation matters. She is always hoping that her work reaches someone who may look like her and see the world like her. www.briana-arrington.com

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2023

K-Gr 2—In this series, each day of the week depicts an everyday adventure for two friends. This is the Thursday entry, with April and Mae each tackling a similar problem in her own unique way. Both girls want to help the new animal shelter. April, who is a dog lover, likes to use words. She will help shelter dogs by writing a letter to the newspaper asking people in her community to adopt a pet. Mae, who loves cats, enjoys hands-on activities. She will have a lemonade stand and use the proceeds from her sales to purchase cat food for the shelter. At first, it seems that Mae's initiative is more successful. A single letter seems destined to help only a single dog, whereas many lemonade sales can mean many cans of cat food. But Mae's strategy does have some implications for her friend. Supporting each other is a sweet quality conveyed in this simple story featuring one dark-skinned and one lighter-skinned character. April & Mae model volunteer activities that may be applicable for many kids, and bold cartoon illustrations and limited text on each page are a suitable match for the intended beginning reader audience. VERDICT Purchase where early readers are in demand.—Gloria Koster

School Library Journal